


transulto per tempore

by mumblingmaria



Category: Morning Glories
Genre: F/M, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2014-06-21
Packaged: 2018-02-05 13:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1819936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumblingmaria/pseuds/mumblingmaria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time is generally just forward. You can look back but you'll never be able to grab hold of it again. But sometimes fate seems to be kind enough to give second chances...</p>
            </blockquote>





	transulto per tempore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brella/gifts).



> I first said I would write this back at the end of December... and then didn't start until maybe the end of January (after watching the movie again with Brella over skype. That was awesome). Then I think I wrote maybe a couple thousand words and didn't touch it for months. FINALLY I got back into the writing groove and work the next 9-10K in a few weeks. That felt pretty great. 
> 
> Let me say, this was a joy to write (when I was actually writing). I'm glad you've been asking for this au for ages because it's such a great one. 
> 
> This was originally just going to be a 'You're an awesome person I'm glad we're friends' gift, then it was going to be a graduation gift, now it's like a 'I love you dear, hey you graduated, please feel better, you're generally amazing' gift. Also a 'hahaha this ship is painful why are we doing this to ourself' gift.
> 
> So here it finally is, my dear.

_Tick tick tick tick tick......_

\---------

The sound of her alarm was the first thing she heard the morning. She slammed her hand against the clock before sitting up in bed. A quick stretch and Casey Blevins was out of bed and ready to face the day. Mostly ready, at least. She quickly put her usual armour on (make up, school uniform, the pair of earrings her father gave to her last weekend, etc.) and looked into her mirror. Another day of the same things over and over again. The day she graduates will be all too soon.

She made her way downstairs to her parents both already halfway through breakfast.

“Slow getting ready today, Casey?” her mother asked, glancing up from her newspaper.

“No, I’m meeting Hunter before school starts and since he’s always late, well, I thought I’d take my time,” the blonde said while shrugging. She grabbed an apple before kissing the side of her father’s head. “But I should really be heading out now.”

“Tell Hunter we say hi,” her father mumbled, sipping his coffee. Casey clearly got the morning alertness from her mother.

“Mhmm,” she answered, grinning. She headed to the front door, grabbing the pre-packed backpack from the couch on the way. “I’m hanging out with Hunter and Jade after school. Well, I probably will, so just a heads up.”

“Wait, can you stop by Vanessa’s work at some point? We were supposed to have dinner, but both ended up double booking. Can you give her these?” the girl’s mother said, making her way to the front hall. She passed a couple of books over with an apologetic smile. “I’ve been meaning to return those.”

“Of course,” she answered, slipping her shoes on. She put the books into her bad and headed out. 

She grabbed the bike next to the fence and hopped on. She quickly glanced at her phone for the time before beginning to bike down the road. It was only 8:13 a.m., giving her (and hopefully Hunter) plenty of time to make it to school.

She watched the scenery around her pass by and sighed. The school year was finally drawing to a close and at this point, Casey was just ready for it to end and to forget about the future, even if just for a little while. It didn’t help that Vanessa was going to most likely bug her that evening. She loved Vanessa like family (which is why she was basically her aunt at this point) but for once the girl just wanted to pretend that nothing was coming, that nothing was going to change, that this was how her life was going to be forever; simple and free.

She turned a corner and, coming to a stop, pulled her phone out. None to her surprise, there was already a text on it from Hunter. Sighing, she opened it to find the message she was expecting. He was going to be late, he was so sorry, please don’t leave before he gets there (though he’d understand if she did). This was the general arrangement; she gets there first, waits five minutes, then Hunter arrives, out of breath, and most likely missing something important. Almost everyday. It was comfortable.

Hunter was one of her best friends. They hadn’t known each as long as Jade and Casey did; he showed up at the beginning of the school year as probably the most awkward new student in the history of new students. By the end of the first day, Casey had already stuck up for him twice and decided it was best for him to just hang out with her. And that was that, since then the three of them couldn’t be separated (in a general sense of the word, Casey was very clear about needing her time to study). 

She smiled and leaned back slightly on her bike. The weather was perfect that day and even a top grade student like her it was hard to want to be at school that day. While skipping class was never an option, today it was almost tempting enough. Maybe one day she’d find the time to pull off missing a day of school (the girl laughed at the thought, knowing well enough that she had the next two years of her life perfectly planned out). 

Just as she timed, Hunter came speeding down the road, clearly already out of breath. His bike screeched to stop next hers and he grinned at her. There was sweat brimming his hairline and Casey had to hold back an eye roll.

“You waited,” the boy wheezed out, trying to catch his breath. 

“I always wait, Hunter,” the blonde said, shrugging. “Why would I stop now?”

“Because you finally got tired of me being the worst at keeping track of time?” Hunter offered. His smile widened and the girl decided in that moment it was a little unfair how contagious it was. 

“Let’s get going before I do decide to just leave without you,” she said, starting to peddle her bike. A few seconds after, the ginger started after her. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it again. “What?”

“Nothing,” he answered, shaking his head. He gulped when Casey arched an eyebrow at him and sighed. “I was wondering, do you maybe want to go to the art gallery with me? I don’t have a date picked out yet, but I thought it would be fun. There’s a painting being restored that I’ve always wanted to see but I know your aunt works there, so if it sounds too boring that’s okay… I just thought it would be nice.”

“Oh…” she said, biting her lower lip.

“Obviously I’m going to invite Jade too, so you know, if that makes the decision easier,” Hunter said the moment the blonde took a pause. There was a slight furrow in his brows and if the girl had looked over, she would have seen his knuckles whitening from their grip on the handles. “So you know… if you want to come.”

“Well, let me know when you have a date, I’ll see what I can do,” she replied, smiling at him weakly. He nodded in response, turning his focus back to the street they were on. 

The rest of the bike ride was quiet. Casey felt guilt building up inside her. It’s not that she knew for a fact that Hunter liked her, he had never said anything so there was no way she could (or would try to) know, but she had this feeling. And she hated herself for how much she dodged it. It wasn’t about him though; she just didn’t want anything like that. Casey liked her friends how they were now. It was comfortable, so comfortable.

The first bell rang just as they finished locking up their bikes, and with a sigh from the girl, the pair ran to their homeroom class (Hunter gasping his apology along the way).

“Seriously? Again?” a ginger girl whispered, leaning towards Casey’s desk. 

“Again what?” she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“You were almost late again because of Hunter,” Jade said, exasperated. The girl looked behind her to the boy in question. He was staring out the window, already lost in thought. “Seriously, Casey, you can’t-“

“What? Bike to school with my friend who takes the same route as me?” the blonde cut her off. “Look, just drop it. Ms. Daramount’s here.”

Jade sighed and turned to the front of the room. Throughout the class, Casey could feel her friend glancing at her. She thought she’d be used to her friend’s concern by now, but it still annoyed her. She wasn’t trying to lead anyone on; she was just being a good friend. How come she had to deal with the questions?

Their first period went by slowly, homeroom always did. When the bell finally rang, Casey quickly gathered her things and left before either of her friends could rope her into a frustrating question. She weaved through the halls quickly to make it to her next class without anyone being a bother.

“So, trouble in paradise with your gingers?” a voice said, suddenly next to her. The blonde looked to the speaker and rolled her eyes. Zoe had fallen into step next to her, smirking. “What did they want this time? Permission to eat lunch with you?”

“It’s none of you business, Zoe,” Casey said, focusing on the hallway around them. Zoe was… a friend in a way. They had been in the same science class for three years now, and chemistry was the place of torture this year. But the girl had a certain charm about her that made everyone worry that she was going to snap one day. Why Casey hung out with her a frequent amount of time was beyond her.

“Of course, always too proud to share,” the dark haired girl said, shrugging. 

The girls made their way to the staircase. The blonde was about to ask if Zoe had finished the homework from last night when something wet splashed on the front of her shirt. A yell escaped her lips and when she looked down, she was ready to punch something. The front of her blouse was now a vibrant pink.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry! Ian wasn’t paying attention and bumped me. I’m so sorry,” a bright, but very urgent, voice said. Casey looked up and saw a girl from the same year as her… Akiko was it? 

“It’s fine,” she muttered, trying to wipe off the juice staining her shirt. “I have an extra one in my locker.”

“I’m so sorry. I can get it washed for you if you want, I live by a dry cleaners. I’ll find you later, sorry again,” the girl rambled before running after the boy, Ian, down the hall. She glanced back with an apologetic face before disappearing into the crowd.

“Tough luck,” Zoe laughed, being to make her what up the stairs. 

“Just explain why I’m not there,” the soaked girl muttered, heading for her locker. She didn’t wait for Zoe’s answer, knowing it wouldn’t have been helpful. At least by walking away she could pretend otherwise.

Casey spent her entire second period in the bathroom trying to save her shirt. When it was just a light pink covering the front she gave up and headed back to her locker. When she got there she saw her pair of gingers waiting. Sighing, she braced herself for the questions.

“What happened to your shirt?” Jade asked, eyeing the one clenched in her hand.

“Rogue juice box or something. It doesn’t matter,” she answered, opening her locker. “I just have to make sure my teacher doesn’t kill me for missing class.”

“Want to talk to him after school? We can head to the park afterward,” the ginger girl asked, watching a sandy haired boy walk by. 

“Seriously, Ike?” Hunter asked, following the girl’s gaze.

“What?”

“Did you get caught staring at the asshole again?” Casey asked, closing up the locker. “Because, we told you already, you can do better with a pile of shit.”

“I wasn’t staring, I was noticing,” the girl muttered, scuffing her shoe on the floor. “Can we go eat lunch now?”

“Okay, danger seeker, whatever you say,” the blonde laughed, linking arms with her. 

Lunch was mostly uneventful (though someone bumped into Casey causing her to drop her sandwich. She then declared that this day had it in for her. Hunter promptly handed her half of his own lunch). The afternoon trickled by, time slowing down almost completely. 

“Casey, will you take these notebooks up to the science office for me? I have to run detentions now,” Ms. Hodge asked, placing a pile of notebooks on the girl’s desk.

The bell for the end of the day had just ringed and Casey thought she was going to finally get to leave. She should have seen one last obstacle to get through that day. It would have been too easy otherwise.

“Yes, Ms. Hodge,” she answered. The woman smiled and headed out of the room. Almost immediately Jade was at her side. “Hey, can you grab my bag? I have to take these to the science office.”

“Sure, Hunter and I will meet you outside,” the ginger said. She took the backpack off the blonde’s desk. She smiled apologetically as she looked at the stack of notebooks.

Casey slowly made her way to the office. The notebooks weren’t the heaviest, but she didn’t want to risk dropping any; she was not going to stop for anything. The office was on the third floor and in one of the out of the way rooms in the school. She honestly wasn’t a huge fan of the room, though she found herself there frequently enough.

Once in the room (which proved to be a decent struggle), she managed to quickly find the right desk. Just as she placed the notebooks down, she heard a sound behind her. She turned around quickly but there wasn’t anyone there.

“Hello?” she called out, stepping away from the desk. There was no response. There were two desks in the middle of the office, so the girl made her way around them, hoping to catch who ever was hiding there. She saw that the room was in fact empty and glanced around it again. “Weird.”

She took a step forward and heard her foot hit something. Looking down, Casey she noticed a small walnut. Before she could reach down for it, the sound of the office door being whipped opened reached her. She turned to quickly to see who was there and tripped over her feet. Before she knew what was happening, the blonde was landing on the ground.

_All around her seemed to have disappeared in white. She felt like she was being hurtled through the arm (though she wasn’t entirely sure she could call what was around her air). Suddenly colours started to fly past her. She tried to shut her eyes but it felt like she was being forced to watch. The faster she flew, the more intense the colours became. Just as she thought her head was going to explode, Casey smacked against the ground._

“Ow…” Casey grumbled, sitting up right. She eyed the now shut door and stood up. She glanced around for the walnut thing, but it seemed to have disappeared. Rubbing the back of her elbow, which was starting to hurt, the girl made her way out of the office. She looked back once at the room before heading to the nearest stairwell. 

“What took so long?” Jade asked, leaning over the front of her bicycle. “We had to talk to Ike for ages. Can you just always be around, he won’t bother us as much when you’re here.”

“Yeah, well that’s because I beat him up,” the blonde said, shrugging. She accepted her backpack from the other girl and looked over at Hunter. Forcing a smile, she took her bicycle from him. “Do you both know the combo for my bike lock?”

“Duh,” the ginger girl said, grinning. The blonde rolled her as she got on her bike. “It’s much more convenient this way.”

“Mhmm,” Casey answered, throwing a smile back to her friend. “I can’t stay out with you guys too late today, I’m going to the art gallery eventually.” 

The three of the made their way through the streets, the two girls stopping when they would occasionally get too far ahead of Hunter. Casey was smiling, once again thinking about how perfect they had it. This was all she needed. Sure, not everyday was going to be perfect and of course the future wasn’t a sure thing, but in this moment she couldn’t be happier.

A couple hours later and Casey was waving to her two friends. She took her time getting to her aunt’s work, taking the longer route through the shopping district of the city. Her mother hated when she took this way, but the girl loved the challenge. In the middle of the street, there was a large hill that ended right before a train crossing. Casey loved zipping down the hill. Normally the train was never there when she went through but the few times she had the come to a swift break was thrilling. She made note to not tell her mother she went this way, though.

She got to the top of the hill and slowed her bike to a stop. She grinned, looking around before taking off down it. Her hair whipped behind her and she gripped her handles tighter, making sure that she was keeping the front wheel straight. As the bottom of the hill during closer and closer, the excitement in the girl grew bigger. She was about half way down the hill when the gates for the train crossing started to lower and the chiming started. Sighing, Casey began to slowly squeeze her breaks, silently complaining about not getting to fly through like she wanted.

It took a second for her to realize something was wrong. She looked down at her handles and saw her hand squeezing the breaks completely and she was still gaining speed. She felt panic begin to rise in her as the train crossing got even closer. There were shouts around her telling her to stop, to break, to do anything.

That’s when she hit the barrier. Casey felt her body being flung forward. She tried to keep hold of the bike but it was too late. She saw the looks of terror on all the face of the watchers. She saw the ground grow farther and farther away from her. She saw the end of her life.

She wondered if she had done enough. Would her parents be proud of her? Would Jade and Hunter miss her? Had she made the right decisions? Would she be forgotten? What was she going to miss out on, she had no idea where her life was going to take her. She had all these plans, but know they just seemed pointless. She had never gotten the chance to actually live and because of her thrill seeking on a bicycle, she never will.

At the sound of the train being mere seconds away from her, Casey closed her eyes.

\---------

She blinked before hitting the ground. Her knee hurt and she could feel the scrapes on her hands and cringed at the idea of making it through the rest of the day with stinging hands. Flexing her hands slightly, she stood up and looked around. Her bike is on the ground and a few bystanders were offering worried looks. She smiled slightly at them before reaching down to straighten her bike. She was at the top of the hill and Casey decided maybe today’s not the day for taking on the hill, not if she had already wiped out.

She began her slow decent, trying not to grip the handles too hard. The blonde hoped that she won’t be too late visiting her aunt, and that there would be something resembling a first aid kit she could borrow at the art gallery. She just wanted this day to end. 

The train went by when Casey was halfway down the hill. Panic hit her out of nowhere and she grasped her bike too harshly as she stopped walking. It felt as a force from behind had tried to fling her forward, that the train had smacked her side, which she had…

“Oh my god…” she whispered.

The blonde, after collecting herself, rushed the rest of the way down the hill. Once the train had passed, she got on her bike and sped to the art gallery (every time she stopped she automatically used her foot, not once checking the breaks).

Once in the gallery, a familiar face smiled at her. The security guard gestured to her usual waiting spot as he called for her aunt over his walkie-talkie. The teen tried not to wring her still stinging hands, a habit she had no idea where she picked up. She needed to talk to her aunt, she needed to be told that what had happened wasn’t true and she obviously just had a surprisingly real case of déjà vu. 

“Casey,” a woman called and the girl jumped to her feet. Her aunt was at the top of a staircase, smiling down at the girl. “I didn’t know I was getting a visit from you.”

“Mom didn’t call?” the blonde asked, making her way up.

The woman frowned, crossing her arms. “I don’t think she did,” she muttered. “I must have forgotten. It doesn’t matter, come on to my office. I just bought a few cupcakes we can share.”

Casey nodded, following her aunt through the gallery. She knew the woman forgot things easily, so it didn’t totally surprise her that her visit wasn’t known. Vanessa was not the most on top of things, but when anyone needed help she was there. She had a kind soul, and that’s exactly what the girl needed right now.

She glanced around at the pieces of art the further they went into the gallery. Casey always felt calmer here. She only started coming to the gallery when her aunt got a job two years before, but she was grateful for the place now. As they neared the office, she noticed an empty space.

“I’m working on that piece now,” the woman gestured to a table in the corner. The girl glanced over, never having been too interested in her aunt’s work. “It’s a few hundred years old now, it is considered a master piece. Once I finish, it will stay with us for a couple weeks before it goes on it’s world tour.”

“Hmm,” Casey said, falling onto the couch the filled a large portion of the room. “What’s it called?”

“I can tell you don’t really want to talk about my work,” Vanessa replied, a soft smile on her face. “What’s on your mind?”

The blonde looked down to the hands now in her lap. She tried to think of how to form what she had to tell her aunt, how she was going to make her understand what happened and not think she had a niece that was going crazy. But before she could decide on how to phrase it, the words began to fall from her lips. Her aunt sat across from her, soaking up all the words, silently. Casey finished explaining the events from the day and waited for the response.

“It sound like a time leap to me,” the woman answered in a matter of fact way.

“What?”

“A time leap. It isn’t as uncommon as you’d think,” she explained, patting the girl’s knee. “I guess whatever happened when you fell in the school office gave you the ability to time leap. You’ll just have to figure out how to work this opportunity you’ve been given. Now, let’s see what we can do about those hands.”

As Vanessa rummaged around the office, Casey felt her head spin. She wasn’t sure she liked how calmly her aunt was handling the situation. She wanted to be told she was fine, but not so nonchalantly. She had hoped for some sort of reaction. This only made her more uneasy. She cringed slightly as alcohol wipes cleaned her hands and she took the opportunity to look her aunt over.

The woman was the same as she always remembered. Same long dark hair, same soft but aged face (a large scar on the side of her face added this), the same kind eyes. But this was a new side to her aunt. She never was sure about the facts. Her mind wandered and she often forgot what she was talking about. She was never sure unless it comes to restoring art.

“There, all better,” her aunt said, smiling at the girl. “You should head home now. Don’t want to make your mother wait.”

Casey nodded and smiled weakly at the woman.

Her walk home was long, she didn’t want to bike and pushing it all the way made the process longer than it had to be. When she go home, she ate in silence with her parents assuming the day had been long. They never pushed when the girl shut off the rest of the world. It happened rarely and always lasted a short amount of time. Casey was grateful for this arrangement now more than ever. After dinner she went up to her room and fell onto her bed.

She pulled her phone out and saw she had a missed message. Read it, she couldn’t help but smile a bit.

_‘Hey Casey, just wanted to say that today was fun. With you. And Jade. All of us, it was fun. We, as in all of us, haven’t done that in awhile. We need to keep it up before the end of the year, it’s almost over and we never know what the summer will bring, cottages, traveling. Have a nice time with your aunt and a good evening. See you tomorrow.’_

Hunter could always bring a smile to her face it seemed. She feel asleep shortly afterward, phone still in hand.

\---------

The next day at school dragged, almost to the point where Casey began to wonder if yesterday had actually happened. If her hands weren’t still stinging, she honestly would have thought she had dreamed it all up. She sat in class, idly tapping her pencil on her notebook.

How was she supposed to time leap again? She had no idea what caused it the first time. There was no chance of her trying a near death experience again to see if that would work, she had nightmares all night from this one. She played yesterday over and over again in her head, unsure of what cause the event. 

The day wore on. Jade and Hunter did their best to cheer up their friend, but her mind was somewhere else. Eventually they gave up and decided what they would do that day after school. When Casey was making her way upstairs to go to her final class of the day, still lost in thought, the girl did something very unlike herself. Hunter, trying to catch her, watched her trip over her foot and fall backwards.

Suddenly the girl landed on a soft surface with a thud. She blinked a few times and found herself on her couch at home. Sitting up, she saw the clock across the room. It was 8:13, and judging by outside, it was in the morning. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and found that it was May 4th, the day before. 

“What…” she whispered. She didn’t move. The minutes ticked by as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening. Her aunt seemed to have been telling the truth. And, given these two events, she would time leap by… literally leaping.

“Casey, is that you?” her mother called from the kitchen. “Have you started getting ready? You don’t want to be late for school. And Hunter called; he said he might be late. 

She went through the morning somewhat dazed. She waited everything second for it to all turn out to be a dream, but as the day repeated itself, it seemed less and less likely. It was when she ran into Zoe that she realized that maybe this knew found ability had its benefits (other than, you know, keeping her from getting hit by trains).

“So, trouble in paradise with your gingers?” the blonde heard for the second time. “What did they want this time? Permission to eat lunch with you?”

“Whatever, Zoe,” Casey said smiling. The dark haired girl frowned and began to walk to the stairs. Casey hung back a second before following. She grinned when she heard a cry of outrage in front of her.

Zoe glared at a now frightened Akiko (as opposed to the just apologetic one from the first time) and an actually attentive Ian. The not juice soaked girl came up beside the fuming girl, trying to look worried. 

“Get out of my way,” Zoe snapped, heading towards the nearest bathroom. 

Casey wondered if she should follow but decided that going to the class she had originally missed was more beneficial. Her somewhat friend would be fine, a little juice never hurt anyone. 

The day stayed mostly the same. She managed to avoid the problem spots from the first time round and by the time the final bell rang, she was leaving the school on time with her friends. She took her time going to her aunt’s work (being sure to walk down the hill) and enjoyed dinner that day. She went to bed, pleased with herself. 

“And no tripping on the stairs tomorrow,” she muttered as she let sleep take hold of her.

The next day went by completely uneventful by the time Casey reached the final bell (she had leaped back a couple time to ensure it). She thought for one moment of telling her friends, knowing Hunter would love to make a Harry Potter reference but decided against it. She wasn’t sure she wanted them to be involved with almost every aspect of her life. She liked the idea of having a secret. 

She walked with friends to where their bikes were kept. 

“Uh… Casey?” the ginger boy asked once he had retrieved his bike. “Where’s your bicycle?”

“Oh, the breaks are broken on it,” she answered, shrugging. “I’ll have my dad to take a look at them soon.”

“Oh.”

“Uh, excuse me,” a voice sneered behind them. The trio looked back and all grimaced. Ike stood there, a smug look on his face. “I was hoping for a favour.”

“None of us are interested,” Casey snapped. She never seemed to be able to keep her temper in check around him. She clenched her fists, as if drawing to step closer.

Ignoring the clear warning, the boy did just that. “I wasn’t talking to /you/,” he said, glaring at the blonde. “I was hoping to get a word with Ms. Emo over here. Alone.”

Before the blonde could answer, Jade shrugged. “I don’t see the harm. If he’s rude I’ll just walk away,” she told her friend, shrugging.

Still frowning, Casey stormed off to the front gates of the school and watched her friend. Hunter tried to smile as he stood next to her, but could see the girl wasn’t going to cave. Sighing, he began picking at his tie.

Finally, Jade re-joined her friends, leaving a surprisingly sullen face Ike. The three walked away from the school, Casey forgetting herself, looking back once at the sandy haired teen.

“What did he want?” she asked, walking in between her friends.

“Uh… He asked me out actually,” Jade muttered, avoiding her friends’ shocked expressions. “I turned him down, obviously. I know how much you dislike him, and honestly you’re more important that some guy. But yeah… Weird, huh?”

“Oh…” Casey breathed, looking down. “Sorry?”

“Don’t fret about it. We just fight anyway; it wouldn’t have been much of a relationship. Plus, always better to date friends, right?” the ginger girl answered, smiling. She glanced pass the girl for a second before turning her attention to where they were headed. “I have to head home right away. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Do you think she wanted to say yes?” the blonde asked, turning to Hunter. The boy shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, I can’t deny I’m relieved she didn’t. She can do so much better than him. And she’s right, being friends with someone is the best way into a relationship.”

“Do you want a ride home?” Hunter asked quickly, pink beginning to creep into his cheeks. “It’ll be easier if you just hope on the back.”

“Uh, sure,” she answered. She waited for him to get settled before sitting on the back of the bike. She felt him make a slow lurch forward and silently hoped he would actually be able to bike with both their weight on it. Sure enough, the boy managed to get a steady speed going.

They rode in silence. He took them through a park, and she realized he was taking the longer way to their usual meeting place. She wondered why he would do this too himself, it would only make the trip harder. But if he wanted the challenge she wasn’t going to complain, she liked this route. There was a large pond in the middle of the river they would have to travel along and it always calmed her down.

They were halfway through the park when Hunter broke through the silence between them.

“Casey…”

“Mhmm?” she answered, half watching the river drift by.

“Did you mean it about it being better to be friends first, like what Jade was saying?”

“Of course,” she answered, slowly moving her attention completely to the boy she was behind. Her turned her head to look at him fully. “Why?”

“I… I was wondering…” he muttered, slowing down on the pathway. “Do you want to maybe go out with me?”

“Come again?” the blonde threw out immediately. She must had heard wrong because she knew that this situation wasn’t ever going to actually arise; she had everything planned out perfectly and this didn’t fit.

“Do you want to go out on a date with me?” Hunter’s voice cracking on the last word.

“I have to head home right away. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Jade said, again. Casey looked wide-eyed at her friend before sighing in relief, grateful she had figured out how to properly time leap before this happened. The ginger girl gave her a weird look before heading off towards her home.

“Um… Do you want a ride home?” Hunter asked, glancing down at his bike.

The girl looked at him sharply, having forgotten for a second what was going on. Biting her lip, she thought through accepting the offer this time. 

“Sure.”

He took them down the same path as the first time, though Casey was counting the seconds. Once they entered the park she knew it was coming.

“I… I was won-” the boy started.

“So my aunt started working on a new painting recently,” the blonde said, cutting him off. Hunter glanced back at her, an odd look on his face. “What? You were mentioning how you wanted all of us, as a group, to go to the art gallery. I just thought you should know.”

“About that… I was more hoping it could actually be an us thing… Like a date.”

“I have to head home right away. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” The ginger girl said. Casey nodded and glanced back at Hunter. He was scoffing his foot on the ground, obviously waiting to make the move. Jade disappeared down a street and the remaining girl braced herself.

“Do you want a ride home?” Hunter asked. “You can just hope on the back.”

“No, I can walk, it’s fine.” She said, starting to walk passed him. After a breath, the boy fell in time with her, pushing his bike alongside them. “You can just go ahead.”

“It’s fine,” he muttered, avoiding her gaze. 

They walked in silence and Casey thought she was going to make is home this time. She even let them walk through the park, figuring that she had changed things enough already. She should still be allowed the opportunity for the more scenic route home.

They reached the pond and Casey glanced over at Hunter. He seemed to be very focused on his bike handles, leading the girl to worry. “So my dad wants me to sign up for kick boxing lessons over the summer.”

“Hmm?” he looked up, looking almost surprised to see she was still there. 

“Kick boxing, over the summer. My dad thinks it’ll help me not stress about us all going into our final year or something,” the girl explained, smiling at him. “I think he just wants to take a break from teaching me.”

“You’re pretty good as it is,” the ginger said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ike is going to seriously have to worry when you get back from the summer if you do it.”

“That is definitely one of the reasons I’m considering doing it,” the blonde laughed.

They fell silent after their laughter died, far more comfortable than the silence before. Casey felt herself relax and looked out over the pond. 

“Hey… Casey?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to go out with me?”

Casey didn’t wait for Jade to say her farewell this time. She was already headed down the street, away from the boy, when Jade called after her. She waved but didn’t look back. All she knew was that she couldn’t be alone with Hunter, not if her life was going to work out how she wanted it. Dating Hunter was not a part of the plan and she didn’t want to take the chance.

\---------

“He asked you out?”

“Well, not really,” the blonde answered, swinging her legs slightly. She was sitting on a table in her aunt’s studio, watching the woman restore a painting on the table next to hers. “I mean, he did, but I leapt back to avoid it. So now I know he wants to ask me out but he hasn’t actually done it yet. But he has.”

“So know what are you going to do?” her aunt asked, glancing up from her work. 

“I don’t know… I thought this time leap thing would be great but it’s left me sort of unsure of where to go from here,” Casey muttered. She stopped swinging her legs and looked down at her feet. There were a surprising amount of scuff marks, all from her rough landings after her leaps. It was the one constant thing. No one seemed to notice the imperfection of them. For some reason, she hadn’t gotten around to cleaning them, there always seemed to be time for it later. “If he tries again… Should I say yes?”

“Only if you want to say yes,” Vanessa said. “Now, let’s talk about something else. Remember that painting I was working on earlier?”

Casey nodded and slipped off the table. Her aunt led her out of the room and they made their way to the main gallery. Soon they were standing in front of the paint and the blonde smiled.

“You finished restoring it,” she said, looking at the woman.

“Just finished it yesterday. Tell me what you think.”

Casey turned back to the painting and really looked at it. When she first saw it she had honestly just thought it had just been a bunch of swirls. She didn’t share her aunt’s passion for art, if she was going to be honest. But this time she saw something else. She saw a balance of greys and blues. But more than just a balance; there were sections where the colours merged or one overtook the other. She could see specs of yellow and green and purple throughout it. She stared into what looked like a storm of chaos and felt calm. She felt a warmth wash over her body.

“It was made during a time of war,” Vanessa said, drawing the girl out of the chaos in front of her. The teen glanced at her aunt then back at the painting. “We don’t know how painted it, but we know that when they lived, times were bad. There was famine and death everywhere. And yet, they created this. It doesn’t have a title anymore, either. We’re unveiling it to the public tomorrow. So, what do you think?”

What did she think? She thought of her own life and how it was normally so calm but now had it’s own chaos to it. She thought of her family and friends. She thought of where she was going to end up in the future and how much that terrified her and yet excited her. She thought of Hunter.

“Second chances.”

\---------

Second chances never ended up being as easy as they seem in planning. Why it was this way, Casey didn’t know but she hated it. And herself a bit. She hated that she was doubting her decision, old and new. She hated that she was giving into this potential idea and hated that she was still pushing it away. And she hated that stupid painting, she decided.

While she had decided that if Hunter were to ask her (again) she would say yes, Casey seemed to find a way to avoid being asked. It didn’t matter is the avoidance was intentional or not, it was there. Either they never were alone together naturally or the girl would find a way to ensure they were never alone together. Eventually she started to just avoid him in group settings. 

Three days had passed since the girl stopped the advancement and she was beginning to wonder just how much she had ruined things. She was sitting on the school’s front lawn with Jade, picking at her lunch. Jade glanced at her every now and then but stayed quiet. Hunter hadn’t tried to speak to her yet that day and hadn’t shown up for lunch.

“Where do you think he’s at?” Casey asked, looking over at her friend.

“Who?”

“Ike, I’ve decided that maybe my hatred from him was just a deep love,” Casey said, rolling her eyes. “ _Hunter._ ”

“Oh… I don’t know,” the ginger girl muttered, looking down at her food. “Maybe with that nerd club of his?”

The blonde eyed her friend before standing up. “I need to talk to him, I’ll see you in class.”

“Casey!” Jade said abruptly. The blonde looked down at her friend, eyes stern. “Just… be smart about this, okay?”

“Okay…”

She headed towards the library, knowing that when the AV club did meet it was there. She didn’t actually know what the club’s schedule was, it always seemed to be whenever there wasn’t an argument meeting the two heads of the group (she was pretty sure it was that Akiko girl and the boy who had been with her). She was pretty sure that they just watched geeky movies and argued about it but a club’s a club.

Casey made it to the library quickly enough but she got there her friend’s words came back to her. She took a breath in before entering the room. She made her way to the back where the group tables were and heard voices. She stood behind the last row of bookshelves and glanced around. Hunter was there, but with only one other girl. Figuring she’d wait till he was done, the blonde took a step to leave the library.

“So, any plans this weekend?” the girl with Hunter asked. Casey stopped in her tracks and began to listen. 

“I was going to see if my friend would go to the art gallery with me, why?” he asked. The listener turned to look through the gaps in the bookshelf. Hunter was stacking DVDs and the girl with him was leaning against the table.

“Well, if your plans aren’t set in stone yet, do you want to maybe go to the movies with me Saturday? I’m sure you’ve heard, but that small independent theatre by the park is going to be playing the entire first season of Doctor Who,” she said, grinning at the boy. He stopped his stacking and looked at the girl. “So if you want, I thought maybe we could go together.”

“Together?”

“Yeah, like a date, Dumbie,” she explained, grinning at him. 

Casey felt her heart stop as she stood up straight. She tried to breathe in but her lungs decided that working in this moment wasn’t important. She wanted to run, for the first time in her life she actually wanted to runaway but her feet wouldn’t let her as if out of habit.

“Maggie…” Hunter whispered.

“It’s fine, you have plans. I get it,” the girl said. 

“It’s sounds like a great idea. Saturday… It’s a date.”

Her feet led her move finally and the blonde rushed out of the library, unaware of her surroundings. She made her way through the halls and doors until she found herself outside again. Jade was waiting, worry etched all over her face. Casey opened her mouth but closed it when she realized that it wasn’t words that were making their way out. She shrugged and headed towards where they had been sitting before. 

The rest of the day was a blur to her. The only thing she was sure of was that the avoiding of Hunter was going to be a permanent state for the time being, just until she figured out what was going on. 

That night, she drew up a bath for herself and hide away in the bathroom. If her parents thought something was odd, they didn’t mention it at dinner. She laid in the tub, occasionally blowing bubbles. She tried to let her mind clear, hoping the warm water would soak away the tightness that had taken over her body. But her thoughts stayed on what had happened. 

She gave up when the water began to cool and moved to begin washing herself when the girl noticed a mark on the back of her elbow. There was a strange mark she’s sure was not there before. Twisting her arm, she got a good look at it. It was two shapes, and after a moment she realized it was the number ten.

“Weird…” she muttered, trying to figure out where it came from. Casey raked through her mind, trying to remember the last time she hit her elbow. Groaning when she realized what it was from, the girl continued with her bath.

Crawling into bed, the blonde tried to figure out what the number had to do with the time leaping. It could be how many days she’s had it, but that didn’t totally add up. It wasn’t the number of times she’s leapt; she easily knew she was most definitely over ten leaps. The next logical thought was that it was how many she had left. She decided that in the morning she would check and see if the number when down. Tonight, just wanted to sleep and forget this day ever happened.

\---------

The next couple of days wore on. They were fairly uneventful (though Casey did make a few leaps to ensure that it was limited ability). She and Jade didn’t see Hunter much, though the time leaper couldn’t help but feel a tad grateful for that. She reluctantly told her friend what she had overheard in the library but made the girl promise to act like nothing had happened. Even so, the boy not hanging around them was welcomed (though while she wouldn’t admit it, it hurt a bit too).

Casey was walking toward the main office on Friday, grumpy about the weekend having basically arrived, when she heard a shriek from outside. It sounded like Akiko, and though she didn’t know the girl, a scream like that was never a good sign. She wasn’t the only person to appear in the courtyard to witness what was happening. When she saw, the blonde immediately felt sick.

Zoe had somehow managed to bring a fairly large water gun to school (though that isn’t much of a feat considering who brought it) and was hosing down Akiko with it, who was backed up against a wall. However, it was just water that was spraying from the gun. The assailant had dyed the water red and was staining all of the victim’s clothes. 

“So are we going to be more careful about where we’re going?” Zoe asked. After a whimper from Akiko, the girl lowered the water gun and smirked. “Good.”

“Zoe, what’s your problem?” Casey shouted, taking a step forward.

“Of course you’re here,” the dark haired girl groaned, rolling her eyes. “Gotta play the hero, don’t you?”

“Akiko didn’t do anything wrong, it was a mistake. How is this okay?” the blonde demanded. She walked halfway between her and Zoe. 

“It definitely feels okay,” she answered. “But let’s if this makes it feel great.”

Before she knew what was happening, Casey saw the red stream of water come at her. She turned away, hoping that the blast wouldn’t ruin her clothes completely. But when then water didn’t hit her, she looked back to see Hunter standing in front of her. 

“Hunter!” the blonde exclaimed. She moved to his side and he just smiled at her. “You’re an idiot.”

“Gross, I didn’t do this so you two could finally hook up,” complained the dark haired girl. She shifted her grip and looked over to Akiko, who was starting to make her way to the crowd. “Excuse me, where do you think you’re going?”

The water gun hurled from Zoe’s hands towards the girl.

“NO!” Casey shouted, refusing to look away when the plastic weapon made contact.

-

“Zoe, just stop,” Casey said, stepping out of the crowd again. /This time no one will get hurt/.

“Of course you’re here,” Zoe groaned, looking over to the blonde. “Just gotta play the hero, huh?”

“Just stop before someone gets hurt, okay?” she said, slowly making her way towards the assailant. “I think you’ve made your point.”

“Do you? I don’t,” she shifted her grip on the water gun and grinned. “It should have been you little miss juice box bumped into. You would have just gritted your teeth and played the perfect girl. Too bad she can’t go back in time and fix that mistake, huh?”

“Zoe, please…”

“I’m tired of you acting like you’re better than me!” Zoe shouted. The water gun flew from her hands towards the blonde. 

“Casey!”

She lifted her hands up but nothing hit them. A few seconds passed and she opened her eyes. Looking down and in front of her, Hunter was lying on the ground with a cut on his forehead.

“No…”

-

“Zoe!”

“Oh come, really? Of course you’re here,” the girl groaned. She turned as Casey stepped out of the crowd. 

“Just let it go, okay?” Casey said, keeping her distance this time. “Please, just drop the water gun and let it go.”

The two girls stared at each other. The blonde was finding it hard to breathe. This needed to be the time. She couldn’t handle herself screwing it up again. She just wanted everyone to be safe from her selfish mistake. She just wanted to stop hating herself for her actions.

“Please.”

“Fine,” Zoe muttered. She looked at Akiko before walking towards Casey. “But first…”

Casey got hit with the spray before she realized the water gun had even been lifted. She took it though; if this meant that no one got hurt she could handle a ruined uniform. For a brief second, she thought that finally things had worked out, finally she would be able to move on, finally she had atoned for her mistake. Then she felt her body get pushed out of the way.

“Hunter!” but it wasn’t her voice this time.

“This is like a fucking teen soap opera,” Zoe spat. Her hands were empty and Casey looked up to see Hunter crouched next to a bleeding Maggie.

The blonde ran to the nearest staircase and quickly went to the top. She was going to go back to the day she got this stupid power and pretend it never happened. She just wanted her life back, her goals back, her potential changes back. No more meddling, no more controlling. Just the life she had before.

One last leapt and everything would be fine.

\---------

“Casey! Come on, you’re going to be late!” her dad’s voice called from the first floor. “This is so unlike her, normally she’s up at 8:13 because that obviously makes the…”

His voiced trailed off as the girl was just lying on her bed. Are part of her figured she should just skip the day, she couldn’t count the number of times she had lived through May 4th. She sat up and grimaced at her clothes. They were still stained. She changed quickly and headed downstairs. She greeted her parents and left. She pretended she didn’t notice the worry on their faces. 

She went to her meet spot with Hunter to find he had beaten her there this time.

“Are you okay?” he asked the moment he saw her.

“Yeah, I slept through my alarm. Bad night,” she said, shrugging. His eyebrows started to knit together and she smiled. “I promise I’m fine.”

“Okay,” the ginger said. They got on their bikes and made their way to school.

After awhile of riding in silence, Casey glanced over at the boy to see him looking at her. “What?” she asked, smiling.

“Oh… No, it’s nothing,” he said, shaking his head. He let go of his bike handle briefly before grabbing hold again. “Actually, I was wondering, do you maybe want to go to the art gallery with me? I don’t have a date picked out yet, but I thought it would be fun. There’s a painting being restored that I’ve always wanted to see but I know your aunt works there, so if it sounds too boring that’s okay… I just thought it would be nice.”

“Sure.”

“Yeah, I figured it wouldn’t be… Wait, what?” he said, stopping his bike. Casey slowed down to a stop a bit ahead of him and looked back. “Yes?”

“Yes, Hunter, I would like to go,” she said, looking down. “My aunt’s been working on some stuff lately so maybe it’s the one of those. I should support her, right? And… It would be fun. To go with you.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I mean, that’s great. Like, really great!” He exclaimed. Casey rolled her eyes and started down the road again, the ginger catching up quickly. 

The day went by basically the same as the first time the girl lived through it. She lost her shirt to the juice box but overall her mood was better. She went out with her friends, Hunter grinning a bit too much and Jade asking a few too many questions. She visited her aunt and told her everything that had happened (she had left her bike at the school though, not wanting to worry about it for the time being). She was ready for the next day. The fact she had one leap left seemed irrelevant at this point.

The next day at school was probably the most bored she had been in what felt like forever and Casey couldn’t be happier. Every hour that dragged seemed like a gift. She had lunch and went to class. When the final bell rang, she decided that to just assure that things would be different this time round, she offered to help take the handed in assignments to the Humanities office. She told Hunter she’d meet him and Jade outside as soon as she could. 

She had just closed the office’s door when her phone chimed. She pulled it out of her bag to find a text from Jade.

_‘Ike asked me out and I said yes. You can be mad at me later.’_

Casey smirked and made her way towards the front entrance of the school. A few steps into this she got another text.

_‘We’re borrowing your bike, my lock wouldn’t open. I’ll return it tomorrow. Just head home with Hunter.’_

Casey felt her stomach drop. She felt like a bucket of cold water had been dropped on her head and her whole body forgot how to function. She felt like time had actually stopped. She forgot about her bike. She broke into a run and found the front yard of the school empty. She didn’t have time to look for Hunter. She didn’t have time to think. The only thing the blonde knew was that she had to get to the hill before they did. She knew Jade would take that route if only to just mess with Ike. 

So she ran. She went as quickly as she could, weaving through streets and passing every person along the way. She didn’t care how she looked, she just needed to stop her friend.

When she got to the bottom of the hill, Casey thought her lungs were going to explode. Trying to breathe, she looked around the street and was only pedestrians. There wasn’t a single bicycle in sight. The gate for the train was down already and as the blonde turned to look at the tracks again, it passed.

Her breathing under control, she tried to grasp hold of what was happening.

“Excuse me,” the girl said, going up to a woman who was waiting for the gate to go up. She looked over as the walk way cleared. “There wasn’t a bike accident here today, was there?”

“A bike accident? No, I don’t think so,” she said, giving the blonde an odd look. She left the girl standing there.

Casey’s phone went off, startling her. “Jade?” she said the moment she held the device to her ear. “Jade, please tell me this is you.”

 _“No, just Hunter. Sorry,”_ the boy’s voice came through the receiver. _“Jade said she was heading to a coffee shop near the school or something.”_

“Oh… Okay. Sorry,” the blonde muttered. She began walking away from the tracks, a smile drifting onto her lips. “Sorry.”

 _“Don’t worry about it. But uh…. Where are you? I thought we were going home together,”_ Hunter said, sounding clearly disappointed.

“It doesn’t matter. Where are you now? I’ll come meet you,” she offered. She felt like maybe getting a coffee or something with Hunter was exactly what she needed. 

_“At the park. I went looking for you,”_ he exhaled.

“On my way.”

 _“Wait, before you hang up… There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,”_ his voice sounded shaky. _“You’re going to think I’m weird or something but…”_

“Hunter, I already think you’re weird but that doesn’t mean anything,” Casey stated. She was grinning and could feel her spirits lifting. “As long as you aren’t inviting me to some sci-fi marathon or whatever, you can ask me anything.”

He chuckled slightly before she heard him take a deep breath. _“No, I promise it’s not sci-fi,”_ he said softly. There was a pause and the girl began to wonder if he tripped or something. _“Have… Have you been… time leaping?”_

Casey stopped walking. She was halfway up the hill. Her breath got caught in her throat and she was sure everyone was staring at her. “What…?”

_“You have, haven’t you? You’ve been time leaping.”_

_“Wait, before you hang up… There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. You’re going to think I’m weird or something but…”_ he said.

“Ask me when I see you, okay? I… I gotta duck into a store right now but when… When I see you, you can ask, okay?” Casey stammered. She felt out of place, like somehow Hunter had gotten one over her, like he had one the race and she was just finishing in second. “Okay?”

_“What, no I’ve go to ask… Yeah, whatever. I’ll see you soon.”_

“Okay. See you,” she whispered. She put her phone away and let a deep breath out.

Turning her arm, she looked at the two zeros just at her elbow. “I can’t believe I used my last leap for that…” she muttered. She started to walk again, shaking her head slightly. It wasn’t like she was saving it for anything; she just figured she’d use her last one for something amazing. Not to get out of an awkward (though she guessed that could qualify for more than awkward) situation.

The chiming of the bell for a train passing drew Casey’s attention behind her. She saw the gate begin to go down as her name got called. Turning, she saw Jade and Ike zip passed her, grinning, and down the hill. She blinked before breaking into a run.

“Stop!” She shouted but they were already out of earshot. “STOP!”

She began to hear the sound of the train coming and tried to will her feet to move fast. She needed to stop them. She needed to be more than just Casey Blevins. She needed to leap.

She tripped over her foot just as the bike hit the barrier. There were screams all around her as she tumbled down the hill. She reached the bottom and tried to look up, but her whole body ached from the sudden onslaught of scraps and cuts. 

“J-Jade…” she muttered.

She closed her eyes and felt tears fall onto her hands. It stung as the liquid fell into the scraps that had just arrived. Her body shook and the world around her seemed to stop.

She blinked when she realized it was silent all around her other than her own tears. She looked at her hands and saw they were completely fine, in fact all the pain over her body was gone.

“What’s going on…” the blonde whispered, standing up slowly. Everyone around her was completely still. Everything was completely still. Even the wind seemed to have ceased its movement.

“I knew it was you,” a voice said behind her. Whipping around, she was Hunter, the only thing still moving, and her bike. “I don’t know how I knew it, but it just makes sense that it would be you.”

“How… My bike… Where’s Jade?” Casey asked, staggering forward slightly. 

“Probably at home? Not here though,” he said. 

“What’s going on…? How are you here? Wait,” she took another step forward and searched for his gaze. His eyes were glue to the bicycle’s handle bar, his hands fiddling with the breaks there. “Can you time leap as well? Hunter?”

“Casey… Would you laugh if I told you I was from the future?” the ginger finally looked up, meeting her gaze.

Her mouth fell open before she could tell herself to be calm and in control. Hunter rubbed the back of his neck waiting for her to say something. They stood in absolute silence, unsure of who should be the next to speak. Casey felt cold, as though she had been locked in a freezer. Slowly, Hunter walked towards her.

“Let’s go to the gallery.”

They walked side by side to the art gallery. Every now and then, the blonde stole a glance at the boy but he didn’t seem different. It was Hunter. He was just as he ever was. He was slightly shorter than her. His nose could be comically large to some but to her it seemed perfect. He rubbed the back of his neck out of some nervous habit he picked up. It was the same Hunter who made her watch all the Star Wars movie, tried to convince her that Doctor Who was a good show, that she should really give Harry Potter a second chance. This was the same Hunter that had asked her out. This was the Hunter she said yes too. He didn’t seem different at all. 

Just sad.

“In my time, we have a way of time traveling, which is probably the coolest thing about the future… and really the only good thing,” Hunter said as he held the door open to the gallery. Casey walked in, avoiding the ginger’s eyes as she did so. She waited for him to take the lead and listened. “You know that walnut thing you found? That’s it. You press it to your skin and poof! Time travel is at the fingertips. But you’ve figured that out by now. Anyway, I used mine to come back to this time so I could find something.”

He fell silent again as he led her through the halls. It was odd being in the gallery with time stopped. Normally, this place felt alive. There was breath. There was lightness to it. There was a presence that Casey had never been able to explain. It felt dead now. There was now life coming from the paintings. No thoughts being released from any of the sculptures. There’s nothing besides the two of them.

It took only a moment for the blonde to realize which painting they were going to, or rather, would be going to if they were here a different day. Soon they found themselves in front of a blank space, an information card on the wall already waiting for the painting to join it.

“In my time, this painting has been destroyed. I saw it in a textbook once and I just left… drawn to it. I don’t know why, I just was. So I decided that I would use this time travel ability to go to a time where it still existed and that’s how I ended up here,” the ginger said. He turned to look at the girl and smiled. “I ended up being too early and then I lost the device but I didn’t mind… I got to meet you.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” Casey said, reaching a hand out to take his. “The painting gets put up tomorrow. My aunt was… is working on it. You’re waits over.”

Hunter laughed briefly before choking back what sounded like the start of tears. He squeezed the girl’s hand before turning away from her. “I used my last jump up… my jump home… It was to save Jade and Ike. Once I let time get back to moving, I’ll be taken out of time for letting someone in the past find out about this. I… I’m going to stop existing.”

Casey felt her mouth part as the boy started to walk away. She ran after him when she figured out how to again and grabbed his shoulder. “What do you mean, take out of time? You can’t go!”

“I’m sorry, Casey. I don’t want to… But I don’t make the rules… It’s a crime to let this sort of thing happen. To be completely honest, I could have gotten in trouble for just being here as long as I did,” he met her eyes. “I don’t regret any of it, though.”

“Hunter… You can’t go yet… I… I just…”

“Casey, wake up!” her mother’s voice called from downstairs.

The blond was standing in the middle of her room. She felt cold and broken. She touched her face, feeling the tears she didn’t know she had been shedding slid down her cheeks. She looked around the room for her calendar and saw it was the start of May 5th.

“You’re going to be late, come on! You’re running out of time.”

\---------

“I heard his parents forced him into a boarding school because he was failing all his classes.”

“I heard that he had a total break down after his mom died and they finally had to send him away.”

“I heard that Casey girl turned him down and he just ran off.”

A whole week had past and the whispers like this were never ending. Casey felt eyes follow her around the school as she tried to make it through the day, a minute at a time. She felt the words hit her as she tried to get from class to class. She felt the guilt eating away at her as she traveled to school only each day.

Hunter had just disappeared from everyone’s lives. The first day people realized something was off, they bombarded her and Jade with questions. Where was he? Why did he leave? Did you break his heart again?

Eventually the rumours where more fun then trying to get the truth and the two girls were generally left alone. Ike filled the empty place where he should be. Her rides home became solitary, taking the route through the park. Studying became looking up TV shows he had recommended but she ignored. Sleeping became lying awake wondering.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Jade asked. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the blonde’s bed. They had spent their Saturday watching movie’s Hunter swore they would love (they couldn’t decide what hurt more, that they did in fact love them or that they couldn’t tell him.) Evening had fallen and Casey just wanted to be alone. “My dad isn’t expecting me home for a few more hours. Let’s watch another.” She reached for Blade Runner before the blonde spoke.

“I’m sure. I’m tired and we’ve gotten through like… four movies today. I just want to read then go to bed,” the blonde said softly, a weak smile on her face.

The ginger went to speak but caught her. Instead she leaned over to her friend and pulled her into a hug. Neither said anything when she left. Casey walked slowly back to her room. She dropped onto the bed. Her arm was laying above her head and she stole a look at her elbow. She had been avoiding even a glance at it, dreading the sight of two zeros being there.

She almost screamed when she caught sight of the number.

_01_

Her bedroom door slammed against the fall as she charged out of her room. She was halfway down the stairs when her father called after her. She didn’t stop to answer. Nothing mattered besides being able to get the height she needed. She had one shot at this and she needed it to be perfect. But that was her thing, being perfect. 

She ran down the street, feet beginning to scream against the pavement. She didn’t care. She didn’t care that she was in pyjamas. She didn’t care about how weird she probably looked. She didn’t care that her hair was going to be a mess. 

She found herself at the top of the hill and took a second to glance down at the train tracks below before leaping. Everything around her turned pure white and soon colours were flying past her. She easily kept her eyes opened, the biggest grin forming across her face.

\---------

The bell signalling the end of the day rang and Casey grinned as she looked at the date on chalkboard. May 4th. She nodded when Ms. Hodge asked her to take the notebooks to the science office. She didn’t wait for her friend to offer to take her bag; she rushed out of the room.

She was in and out of the science office (only stopping to grab a walnut shaped object). She met her friends outside (trying not to stare too much at Hunter) and the headed to the baseball diamond. Once they got there she pulled the ginger boy aside. 

“What… What’s up?” he asked, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. 

Casey opened her head and showed the walnut to the boy. His mouth dropped as his eyes flew between her hand and face.

“I know everything. I know about time leaping.”

They quickly told Jade that they were both going to head off now (and Casey tried to ignore the wink her friend gave her, it only made her stomach drop). They walked their bikes as they made their way to the park. When they reached the river, the two teens found a spot in the grass to sit.

“I’m sorry? I guess that’s all I can really say at this point. I’ve ruined your chance to see the painting,” she said after awhile of just sitting in silence. She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked over at the boy next to her. He was staring at where the pond was fed by the river, absentmindedly picking at the grass. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. You’re making sure I can get home,” he answered, looking back at her. “It’s the least you can do. I mean, hey! I’m the one that lost their time traveling device. I’m the stupid one.” He laughed a bit before rubbing his neck again. 

The blonde reached over and grabbed his hand. “No,” she said, smiling. “You’re not stupid.”

He smiled weakly before letting his face fall. “I… I should head home now. Wow… This is weird.”

“Says, the boy who time travels,” Casey snorted. She kept hold of his hand as he stood up, allowing him to pull her up once he was standing. She dropped his hand and met his eyes. “I’m going to make sure that you’ll get to see the painting in the future. I promise that you’ll get to see it. Okay?”

“I wouldn’t expect any less of you…” he muttered, the corners of his mouth barely lifting. She could see tears beginning to form in his eyes and she looked away. “I’ll be seeing you, I guess.”

“That’s a terrible goodbye…” she whispered, staring down at her feet.

“I know… Sorry.”

She didn’t look up. She couldn’t. She didn’t want to see him not standing there anymore. She didn’t want to see him not staring at her like the sun got it’s energy from her. She didn’t want to see grass where she wanted his eyes. She didn’t want one of her best friends to be gone from her life. She didn’t want a missed opportunity.

“Hunter!” She shouted, looking up abruptly. 

But he was gone.

Tears trickled down her cheek as she turned. Casey started towards her bike. She thought it wouldn’t be as hard this time. She thought that since they were in control of his departure that she wouldn’t feel like her heart had been ripped out. That she wouldn’t feel like she lost something. That she had broken something. 

She turned back; just to have one last look at where they had a moment to pretend they hadn’t missed their chance. The blonde gasped when she saw bright orange hair framing the greenest eyes she had ever seen. 

They crashed into each other, both holding onto the other as tight as they could. Neither wanting to let the other go. Neither wanting to let the inevitable take place. Neither wanting time to take hold. She cried into his shoulder (and she knew he was doing the same to hers). Minutes passed and finally they lifted their heads to look at the other. A breath passed and they began to lean in, pressing their foreheads together. They looked into each other’s watery eyes and smiled, a soft laughter floating into the air. 

Swallowing, Hunter spoke finally, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Okay. I won’t be long. I’ll come running.”

\---------

_Tick tick tick tick tick......_


End file.
